


What's Up, Doc?

by ZippyZapmeister



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, LEO'S A FUCKING DOCTOR WHAT A SUCCESSFUL TOMATO, M/M, Pre-Relationship, rhajat is literally a clump of cells in this, they got Baby Fever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 14:16:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7511536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZippyZapmeister/pseuds/ZippyZapmeister
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of all the people Leo never expected to show up in his office...</p>
            </blockquote>





	What's Up, Doc?

**Author's Note:**

> baby nina aaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

The office was about to close, and Leo’s eyes were beginning to glaze over from exhaustion. He was pretty much fresh out of medical school and he was already feeling like an old man. The fluorescent lights of Nohr’s most prominent pediatric practice were grating on Leo’s nerves, and he was ready to go to bed.

His intern, Hayato, was taking care of a good part of the actual check-ups, and Leo only came in to do the things that a regular, non-certified intern couldn’t. However, even without dealing with patients and just being hunched over paperwork, he was still tired as all get-out and ready to go home.

A knock on his office door signaled a visitor, and Leo looked up from his current stack of lab-work and blinked sleepily. It was Hayato, who was covered in dried baby puke and obviously put-off. 

“Part of the job,” Leo said. 

Hayato sighed in irritation and said, “I know! I’m not going to lose it over a little…regurgitated carrots and peas.” His expression said very different, but Leo nodded for him to continue regardless. “Mr. Hinata’s kid was the last patient for tonight, and he left about half an hour ago, so I’m heading home.”

“Hinata? Hm…how is Hisame? He’s pushing one-and-a-half, right?”

“Pukey. And, yeah.”

“I can see that he’s pukey. But otherwise…?”

“It seemed to be the stomach bug he was here for two days ago. Mr. Hinata…lost the prescription, so he came back for another today. Thank the gods Hisame hadn’t gotten any worse,” Hayato said, leaning against the door frame. 

Leo frowned. “That’s good. Well, see you tomorrow. Tell your fiance I said hello.”

“Oh, yeah, I will! Nyx is doing just fine, by the way, the pregnancy is going real smooth. Rhajat’s a kicker, but Nyx is a fighter. Maybe she’ll come by at lunch tomorrow. Good night to you, doc!” 

Hayato was gone in a flash, and Leo was left to his thoughts. Even the receptionists had left. _Maybe I should just sleep here. Driving in this state isn’t good,_  he thought, putting his head down slowly. _Not like there’s much at home, anyway…_

Just as Leo was drifting off, he heard a loud, hard banging on the front door of the clinic. His eyes widened as he sat up straight in his chair. Who would be banging on the door so frantically at that hour? 

Leo shouted out, “We’re closed!”

He sat silently and very very still, waiting for a response or some other kind of action. After a couple of seconds, a deep, desperate voice called out. “Please! N-Nina, she’s…I’m really worried, Leo! For an old friend?”

 _Nina? Isn’t that…_  Leo jumped up and dashed to the front door and opened it, only to see an ashen-haired man with a tote bag on his shoulder and a swaddle of blankets in his arms. A soft cooing sound rose from the patchwork swaddle.

“Niles?” Leo questioned weakly. His heart was racing. Niles was even more gorgeous than he remembered. Leo always thought Niles the most handsome in the trio of him, Niles and Odin…or, rather, the most handsome in all of Nohr.  _And what’s with the eyepatch?_ “What the-I haven’t seen you since _high school_!”

“I know, I know, but Leo, can we catch up later? I’m worried about-”

“Yes, Nina, Nina. I heard that you had a daughter, and…” _I was wondering who you had it with, I was wondering why you never called me-_

Niles nodded and sighed sharply. “Yeah. This kid’s the best thing that ever happened to me, and that’s why you have to…Leo, please!”

“Right. Let me take her,” Leo said, gently taking Nina from Niles’ arms. Niles seemed reluctant to let her go, but handed her over anyway. Leo glanced at Niles, and noticed that he looked…tired. More tired than Leo had ever seen him. “What’s been happening?”

“Leo, you have to see it, she’s been doing this thing,” Niles said, pushing past Leo swiftly. He made a sharp turn into an examination room and stood in front of a table, his head bumping into the mobile of the solar system as he brandished a blanket from the tote and laid it on the table. Leo laid her on it and furrowed his brow, opening his mouth to speak. “Just watch, it-she just started doing it, and I’m worried…”

Nina was squealing and playing with her feet, simultaneously eyeing Leo curiously. Leo crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue, and Nina grinned, her wispy grey hair reflecting off of the light.

Just as Leo was about to ask Niles what he was looking for, Nina began to twitch. It was nothing major, but she began to twitch and shake a little. Leo raised his brow and leaned forward, and Niles’ breathing became audible. “That, right there,” he whispered. “I’m worried! She’s smiling, but…i-is it a seizure?”

Leo went a little closer to Nina, his eyes narrowing as he looked her over. He grabbed his stethoscope and pressed it to her chest, listening intently. Her heartbeat was normal. Leo felt around her muscles and watched her some more, but it didn’t seem at all like she was having a seizure. All of a sudden, the twitching stopped, and she kept laughing…not that it ever stopped her in the first place.

“Niles, you’re worried about…nothing, frankly,” Leo sighed boredly. “She’s a baby, and her nervous system is still…how old is she?”

“Five. Five months.”

“Nothing to worry about,” Leo said. Nina started to sing aimlessly. “Niles, why didn’t you take her to the ER?”

“Bastards were moving too slow,” Niles roared loudly. Nina jumped a little bit. “Sorry, love…anyway, they had so many patients there, and I knew that you practiced in this town, so I just came to see if you were still here. You never were the type to stop working when you were supposed to.”

Leo nodded. “That’s very true, but next time, I advise you to just wait it out. I trust that emergency room triage knows the urgency of a situation when it’s brought to them. Knowing you, you didn’t wait that long.”

“Got any kids?”

Surprised by the question, Leo said slowly, “No.”

“Then you wouldn’t…get it. She’s just so small, and it’s easy to fuck up,” Niles said, palming his eyes. “This is the first time I’ve ever exerted this much energy on one person! I hope the little brat appreciates me when she gets older.”

“I’m sure you’ve ‘exerted energy’ on your significant other.”

“Don’t have one. Flying solo, here…I had a surrogate,” Niles explained. “Nina got my hair, though. Isn’t she pretty? She’s taking after her gorgeous daddy.”

“Yes, she is,” Leo agreed quickly. 

Niles smirked and waggled his eyebrows, and Leo realized that despite having a baby, Niles was still oh-so childish. “Never knew you thought I was so gorgeous.”

Leo blushed and began pretending to check-up Nina, nothing more than lifting limbs and gently pressing on spots. “Yes, well…why haven’t you been around? Why did you just pop up all of a sudden?” Leo slowly strolled back to his seat.

“…I did some time after graduation,” Niles sighed. “Killed a guy down in Hoshido, did a couple of yea-”

“ _What_?! You _killed_  someone?!” Leo scooted his chair away, his back hitting the wall with a _thud_. Niles stayed in trouble throughout their childhood, but…murder?

“Just _kidding_ , Leo, just kidding! Aggravated robbery.”

“That’s just as bad,” Leo argued. “And-and how did you get out so quickly? Aggravated robbery…it happened a couple of years ago, and you’re _out_?”

Niles folded his arms and smirked. “I _did_  get in a couple of fights…that’s how I got this eyepatch, but…I was a good boy in there, Leo! Well, at least while the big bad officers watched. They decided to pat me on the head and give me freedom.”

Leo shivered, thinking of all the gentle lectures Camilla had given and the blunt “you have no idea what they do to boys like you in prison”s that he got from Xander. He had a feeling that Niles was on the good end of that phrase. “Right…and…Nina?”

Nina was still singing on the table, and Leo walked over and picked her up, bouncing her in his arms. Niles sighed and watched Leo, shaking his head. “Now, I _know_ this sounds irresponsible, but I thought there was no better way to settle down and get things together than to have a kid. It’s harder than I thought, especially by myself, but I built up a lot of money, and I’ve got a good job teaching a self-defense class. I have a nice babysitter, too, so Nina’s all taken care of!”

“Teaching a self-defense class? Glad you still found a way to be violent,” said Leo dryly.

“Me too,” Niles replied. “Anyway, I’m back in Nohr, I have a cozy little apartment. Not much, but I guess I’m pretty satisfied…for now.”

“Wow,” Leo breathed. “I wish I could’ve stayed in touch with you, but…when you moved down to Hoshido for your ‘vacation year’, or whatever you called it, I just got so caught up in medical school, and…and I didn’t stay in touch with Odin either, he traveled to Ylisse and became a writer, so-”

“Leo, I don’t blame you. Of course, if you wanna make it up to me, you can always buy me dinner,” Niles said, flashing his trademark smirk.

Without thinking, Leo said, “Any time, Niles. And I know you probably already have a pediatrician for Nina, but just know that any time you have any questions, you can call me.”

“Well, I do have _one_  more question.”

“Yes?”

“Are you…seeing anyone?” Leo turned a deep red and, once again, tried to busy himself with Nina. He began to gently play with the hair atop her head as she began to fall asleep on his shoulder. Before he could reply, Niles continued, “Uh-huh. I thought you’d be single. I’m glad you’ve got this pediatrician gig, and you have to take care of all the tykes, but you’ve got to take care of yourself, too. Unless…you want _me_  to take care of you?”

“D-don’t you think you should refrain from talking about this kind of thing in front of your daughter?” Leo grunted.

Niles crossed his legs. “And what do you think I’m talking about?”

“We both know what you’re talking about! L-listen, Nina’s fine, and she’s tired, so you should-”

“Heh. You’ve always done this, getting all shy and deflecting my advances…ever since high school,” Niles purred. “Don’t worry, Leo, I won’t let you go this time. Me and Nina are gonna come pay you a visit every now and then, maybe even more often than that.”

Niles stood up and reached around Leo, fishing into the other man’s pocket. Leo stared, bewildered, as Niles pulled out his phone. Niles put his number in Leo’s phone and handed the phone back. Leo cleared his throat. “You know, if you just put _your_  number in _my_  phone, there’s always a possibility I won’t call.”

“You’ll call…trust me,” Niles said bluntly. “Alright. Hand over Nina, so I can get outta your hair. Can’t believe she fell asleep in your arms like that…”

“I’ve got a way with the little ones.” Leo smiled tiredly and passed Nina off to Niles. Leo folded up the blanket on the table and packed it away in Niles’ tote, then patted it once he had zipped it. They stood there for a moment in awkward silence as Nina clenched Niles’ navy, loose-fitting t-shirt in her sleep. 

Leo wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find the words. Him and Niles were closer than anybody else, and it broke Leo’s heart when he left. Of course, him and Odin stayed in contact, but Odin didn’t really come into the picture until the last year of middle school when he moved from Ylisse. 

Finally, Leo inhaled and exhaled deeply, then said, “Niles, I-I’m happy to see you. Don’t disappear like that again, alright? You’re a real friend, no matter how weird you are.”

“Me? Weird? You’re the one who used to read until even the librarians shooed you away,” Niles teased. “I’m an average citizen compared to you.”

“I guess that’s why we’re friends, since we’re both outside the norm,” Leo said. “So…don’t just go again. Stay here in Nohr, for…Nina. It’s not good to just up and-”

“Oh, don’t play with my emotions like that, Leo. You think I should stay here because you _want_  me to stay here. And that’s alright, because I’m not leaving. Now, I’ll take you up on that dinner soon, so don’t hang me up to dry,” said Niles, leaving the examination room. 

Leo dashed back into his office and grabbed his belongings, locking the door behind him and Niles as they stepped into the night air. “Right. The office closes early tomorrow-”

“And I get off at seven. I’ll call your office when I talk to the babysitter-”

“Nina can come with us,” Leo interrupted. “She’s fine with public places, right?”

“Are you kidding me? She _loves_  public places, lives for people-watching. Knows how to case the joint,” Niles boasted. He opened the door to his car, a rusty, trusty clunker. Leo looked at it with astonishment and disgust.

“Err, right. Let’s just hope she’s not casing it for the wrong reason. Imagine that, a baby holding up a restaurant…”

Shrugging, Niles buckled Nina into her carseat and shut the door softly, making sure not to rouse her. “We’ll see tomorrow. If she gets cash, I’ll pay you back for the steak dinner I’m getting.”

Leo smirked. “I’ll hold you to it. Good night, Niles.”

“Nighty-night, Leo.”

Leo walked to his own car, resisting the urge to look back and gaze at Niles again. By the time he reached his car, Niles had already pulled off. As soon as he got into the driver’s seat, he sighed, shutting his eyes briefly.

He opened them and reached over to the glove compartment, rifling through the various papers and small novels to find the worn envelope that rested in the back of the compartment.

Opening it up, he took out its sole contents: a glossy picture of him and Niles in their caps and gowns, along with Odin doing some unbelievably immature “hero” pose.

_I thought you were gone forever…_


End file.
